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Yoko Ono's Meltdown

In June 2013, the 20th anniversary year of Meltdown, Yoko Ono curated a specially created series of events and unique collaborations.Highlights included the long-awaited first show in five years from Siouxsie, the legendary Patti Smith and Iggy & The Stooges, as well as the first performance of the entire of John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy album.

There were also two weekends of talks and debates. Activism Weekend featuring the Guerrilla Girls, the launch of new book Let’s Start a Pussy Riot and more. The Future Now weekend opened with Yoko Ono in conversation with Serpentine Gallery curator Hans-Ulrich Obrist.

Also at the festival, Peaches performed Yoko Ono’s seminal performance art piece, Cut Piece, therewere installations across the site and the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus came to visit, running an intensive programme for groups of local young people on how to make music videos and reportage films.

As part of Yoko Ono’s Meltdown our neighbours at the BFI (British Film Institute) also put together a selection of Yoko’s favourite films, including an exclusive screening of Battleship Potemkin with an introduction by the Pet Shop Boys, plus rarely seen films by John and Yoko.